Mitch McConnell

Kentucky employers and addiction treatment providers are throwing their weight behind Senator Mitch McConnell’s opioid bill introduced last week in the U.S. Senate.

Known as the CAREER Act, McConnell’s bill would funnel millions of dollars into the state to help people with opioid addictions obtain jobs and safe housing.

McConnell took part in discussions about the opioid crisis in Louisville Monday.

Under the bill, 10 states with the highest rates of drug overdoses, which would include Kentucky, would get funding for five years starting in 2019. Scott Hesseltine, vice president of addiction services at addiction and mental health service provider Centerstone, said jobs and housing are common challenges for people finishing inpatient recovery programs.

Long-time McConnell aide Tim Thomas said he can see a day when the Appalachian Regional Commission is no longer needed. But that’s not something he expects to come any time soon.

“It will not happen on my watch, it will probably not happen on the watch of my successor, but I can see that day on the horizon,” Thomas said. “My vision for ARC is to see the day that this agency can shutter its doors because its goals and objectives have been reached in large measure.”

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has introduced a bill aimed at addressing the impact the opioid epidemic is having on the nation’s workforce.

The Comprehensive Addiction Recovery through Effective Employment and Reentry, or CAREER Act, creates a pilot program focused on the states most devastated by substance abuse. The legislation encourages local businesses and treatment groups to form partnerships. McConnell said having stable employment is about more than a paycheck and supporting a family.

The U.S. Senate Majority Leader is maintaining his position related to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky visited Bowling Green and Western Kentucky University Monday, and sat down for an interview with WKU Public Radio.

McConnell hasn’t said much publicly about Mueller’s investigation. But the little he’s said has been consistent—that Mueller should be left free to do his job.

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3:47

Hear part one of our interview with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The Kentucky Senator talked about the Mueller probe and President Trump's impact on the Republican Party heading into the midterm elections.

The opposing leaders of the U.S. Senate shared a stage at the University of Louisville on Monday, the same day the chamber is set to begin an open debate on bills dealing with immigration.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tried to reassure an audience of mostly students that the Senate would be able to navigate a divided political climate to find solutions.

But Schumer still said the immigration debate would be a test for lawmakers.

The Senate voted to begin debate on immigration Monday, launching an unusual process that could lead to a bipartisan immigration fix — or leave Congress with no solution for the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who stand to lose legal protections by March 5.

Kentucky’s Republican U.S. Senators are on opposite sides in the latest attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

The bill by Senators Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy would give block grants to states to create their own health care systems. The funding would replace Obamacare's tax credits and Medicaid expansion. The measure would also repeal the individual and employer mandates.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Kentucky Senator and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised the legislation for taking more decision-making power out of Washington.

Two powerful Kentucky Republicans have an idea to boost an economic development agency that helps Appalachia: Move it out of the nation's capital.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and veteran Rep. Hal Rogers are sponsoring a bill they say will refocus the Appalachian Regional Commission to invest more in the poorest communities in 13 Appalachian states. The bill, introduced Monday in the House and Senate, would move the panel's headquarters from Washington to a location in Appalachia to be chosen later. The lawmakers say similar commissions are headquartered in their respective regions, reducing administrative costs and making them more accountable to communities they serve.

Tricia Petrucci hasn’t quite reached the point where she regrets her vote for President Donald Trump. It would be understandable if she did, because Trump — and her senator, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — are trying to curb the medical services that sustain her 11-year-old stepson, who battles severe cerebral palsy.

She is aware of the irony when she chats with her Louisville neighbor, Ann Pipes, a Democrat whose own son is 11 and struggles with a disability.

About two-dozen demonstrators held signs and delivered speeches Tuesday outside the Louisville office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, demanding that McConnell hold President Donald Trump accountable for comments he made following this month’s deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The Louisville protest was organized by Melissa Byrne of the group UltraViolet. According to its Facebook page, the group “works on a range of issues, including health care, economic security, violence, and reproductive rights.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said there is “zero chance” Congress will allow the country to default on its debt by voting to not increase the borrowing limit.

McConnell’s comments came Monday during a joint appearance in Louisville with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Mnuchin said it is his “strong preference” that Congress pass a “clean” increase to the debt limit, meaning the legislation would have no other proposals attached to it that would make it more difficult to pass. He also said simplifying the nation’s tax code is a priority.